Monday, 25 May 2015

#47: The Crimson Tide

THE CRIMSON TIDE

Paul Mason

Reviewed by Mark Lain

The
follow-up, as opposed to a sequel, to the archly pretentious #42 Black Vein Prophecy (they are both
set in the Isles Of Dawn and this book’s plot requires you to encounter the
protagonist from the earlier book but your character this time around is
totally different) is structurally and stylistically unique within the FF
cannon. YOU play a 13-year-old serf who is seeking vengeance on the leader of a
band of marauding bandits who murdered your father and abducted your mother.
The book begins with the bandits attacking your village, then YOU and some
other village children set off to right the wrong. The plot motive itself may
hardly sound original (there are several other revenge FFs), but the approach
and execution is a million miles away from the standard “sword, armour, potion,
food, mission” gamebooks.

Beginning the
book as a child means you are initially very weak and your starting stats are
designed to reflect this: Skill is generated with a single dice roll (ie it can
only range from 1 to 6), Stamina is only 2d6 (ie 2 thru 12), but Luck is the
standard 1d6+6 (ie 7 to 12). This may seem quite harsh in gaming terms, but it is very logical in real terms as a child cannot have the same physical strength or
weapons abilities as a bigger and more experienced adult. There is no reason,
however, why a child cannot be as naturally lucky (or unlucky) as an adult so
the handling of Luck also makes perfect sense. To avoid you simply having no
chance of getting anywhere due to your restricted stats, an added feature
involves your Age stat. You start aged 13 and, as the book progresses you are
prompted to add another year or two to your age as time is spent doing various
things (working, training, being enslaved, etc.) As you get older your Skill
and Stamina also increase in line with whatever you are doing – do physical
work and your Stamina rises, learn combat skills and your Skill rises. Again,
all very logical, with the added realistic element that, once you reach the age
of 18, your current Skill and Stamina become your Initial values and you now
have an adult character generated. This is the only FF gamebook ever to deal
with this idea and it gives a realistic RPG feel as your character literally develops.
There is another stat involved here too (Ferocity) which is your desire for
revenge. As you get older, your Ferocity generally decreases as your hatred
lessens. If it ever reaches zero you have achieved inner peace and can
automatically avoid the aggressive responses caused by rolling under your
Ferocity score when making saving throws against Ferocity. Ferocity is the only
stat mechanic that does not work especially well in this book. If your primary
goal is vengeance (and it is in this book) then why would your thirst for
closure ever reduce? Also, as the book regularly reminds you that you are out
for revenge, it seems a bit at odds with that part of the plot. That said, a
major feature of this book’s design plot-wise is your gradual spiritual
awakening, so in that sense it fits well, but there are not really many moments
where your Ferocity is tested so overall it has little bearing on anything
much. All the same, the idea itself is sound.

It does not
take a genius to realise that, given the limits imposed on you by playing a
child in the early stages of the book, you can find yourself starting with a
super-weak Skill 1 Stamina 2 character. If you do, you have to give up
immediately and start again. In fact, if you have anything lower than an
opening Skill of 3 the book is impossible from the outset as you are expected
to fight a Sk 12 St 6 Giant Mudworm a few sections into the book. Even if you
roll double twos for its Attack Strength in every
Attack Round (possible, but highly unlikely), giving it an AS of 14 (which is
its minimum) you can only ever wound it with a minimum AS of 15 (ie 2 x 6 on
the dice + 3 Skill) and even then you have to roll double sixes every time
(again, it can happen, but it is extremely unlikely.) Much has been made of
this encounter in various write-ups of this book and it is incredibly hard, but this has to be looked at rationally. Yes,
the fight cannot be won unless you have a Skill higher than 3 (and even with a
Skill of 6 it will not be easy) which is a fundamental flaw in design, but you
only need to inflict three wounds to kill it. If you use Luck (and remember
that Luck is rolled-up as per any other FF book so you have no disadvantage
Luck-wise) you can potentially only need to hit it twice as it is physically
quite weak. The book does mention that you are made leader of the gang of
children because you had previously killed a Giant Mudworm (which you quickly
realise is the standard enemy of the rice paddy worker in this area of Titan)
so this combat is evidently a plot-enhancing moment and is obviously intended
to be easy as you start the book with only a wooden sword as a weapon –
presumably Giant Mudworms can be simply beaten to death with sticks so cannot
be all that tough? But, it is unfair to criticise the book’s design for this
encounter as it was never meant to be this way. PM has gone on record as
blaming Marc Gascoigne for changing the creature’s Skill during the editing
process so the error is just that – an error! Looking up Giant Mudworms on
Titannica suggests its stats should be Sk 6 St 6 which would certainly be more
sensible and make this combat fit the context far better. So, there are two
choices here (excluding cheating and awarding yourself an automatic win, of
course): 1) play the book as it is in its finished form which does demand a
minimum starting Skill of 3 but that’s no different to the multitude of the FFs
that have predestination built into your stats and cannot be finished without
certain minimum attributes and just accept that this combat is ridiculously hard;
2) decide the Mudworm has a Skill of 6 and conduct the fight that way instead.
By all accounts, if you want to ever get beyond the very first part of the book
you need to do something otherwise you will miss a lot of decent material.

On the first
few playthroughs it can seem like you spend a lot of time going around in
never-ending circles making the intended route seem rather elusive and, until
you find the true path the book is pretty much a loop of visiting and
re-visiting the same places and scratching your head trying to fathom out what
essential item or side-route you have somehow missed. It is even possible to
end up being sent back to paragraph 1 (although this happens quite early on,
rather than annoyingly right at the end as with BVP) to re-live everything but that is preferable to just being
told you have failed. Indeed, the way failure is handled in this book is one of
the best parts of it as instant deaths are very rarely used, other than in the
final section where there is a generic item checklist that you have to go
through and any missed ones will lead to death. Instead, TCT includes a multitude of alternate endings, all of which involve
you getting a job of some sort and just settling for that instead of revenge.
Some are very “zen” and follow the spiritual enlightenment themes that are
central to the book (becoming a monk, etc), some are just you accepting that a
career will get you through life fine (weaver, sailor, farmer, etc), and a few
are pretty awful and condemn you to a life of hell (slavery, etc.) There are
loads of these outcomes and, whilst they might start to grate and become
repetitive after a while, they offer a good alternative to simply dying and
show that a lot of thought has gone into a) the design of the book and b) the central
themes and the genuine realities of accepting a good opportunity when it
presents itself rather than trying to be a one-man revenge machine (especially
as you are totally out of your depth here.)

The central
theme of enlightenment is key to completing this book and you are required to
pay quite close attention to a few important clues along the way, especially in
the introduction which tells you that you need to note down codewords in the
exact order that you are given them. Enlightenment in this case involves
training as a monk, learning to control your rage (Ferocity) whilst growing
physically more powerful (Skill, Stamina) and making some wise (enlightened)
choices at major decision points and it quickly becomes apparent that killing
everything in sight will get you nowhere in this book. The codewords concept is
one that I generally do not like in gamebooks but it is very well deployed in TCT and serves two purposes. The first
is the use of codewords as a way of controlling plot logic and flow to avoid
the reset button illogically kicking-in as you return to previously visited
areas and/or deal with cause-and-effect scenarios. The second is the subtlest
and also most frustratingly clever part of this book in that a particular
sequence of certain codewords holds the key to the only way of completing the
book. This is an intriguing idea and emphasizes the importance of the true path
and of mapping. There are lots of codewords that can be found, but only a few
form the essential clue, others just control plot flow and some even force you
down red herring routes, which makes the correct message all the tougher to
find. It will take umpteen failed attempts to find an even vaguely coherent
message in the codewords and the one true path is rendered incredibly tight and
linear due to this. In fact, it could take many playthroughs to even work out
that there is meant to be a message in the codewords, but, as I said earlier,
close reading of the text will give clues about this. The statement in the
intro about noting them down in order is a clue that probably grows more
obvious the more times you play the book, but during the Monks’ trial section
one of the Monks actually says “In everything there is a pattern and you will
understand only if you observe the pattern” so he essentially tells you how to
crack the book’s code. On one hand, this is one of the cleverest and most
unusual secret solutions in any FF book, but, equally, it is so subtle due to
its uniqueness that it can make this book seem un-finishable and I doubt many
people have ever genuinely completed it, especially given that the last part of
the hidden clue is the section number that you need to turn to which can only
be found by solving a very hard maths puzzle that you are not directly told you
have got right until you combine your miraculous realisation that it goes with
the word clue with actually managing to do the maths and magically get the
correct paragraph. Overall, this is an exceptionally difficult code to solve,
but, as I said, the clues are there if you are persistent and are willing to go
through the pain of many many unsuccessful playthroughs as you slowly piece the
map together and figure out the required order of events. But, at least the
“now use the secret section you have uncovered” moment is clearly signposted in
the options when it comes to needing to know it, rather than you just having to
guess, so it’s not all weighted against you in terms of uncovering the
solution.

Indeed, there
are a few other nods to make the ride a tiny bit easier for you. Combats are
generally discouraged (the battle count on the true path is very low indeed) as
the point is to reduce your Ferocity and achieve enlightenment (a word the book
hammers into you over and over again to get the point of its importance across)
and the really tough opponents do not need to be fought if you have got the
point. As time passes there are ample opportunities to improve your stats,
although only the true path will give you a decent enough Skill to win through.
As an aside, the passing of time may seem a bit jumpy (ie you are often simply
told that you spend a year doing this, that, or the other and to add +1 to your
Age) but it does avoid unnecessary longeurs that will slow down the plot
progression. Plus, the adventure overall is not too long so re-starting does
not seem to be a chore as you don’t need to spend ages getting back to a
previous fail point which makes re-play more likely without it growing
depressing.

For a game
with such a tight true path, you are relatively free to roam about and explore
areas in any order whilst you try to map the book on repeated failed attempts.
Obviously, once you find the true path there is no scope for digression but the
“exploratory” possibilities of the book are fairly wide open and are all the
more viable given the various non-win endings that avoid the usual “wrong way =
death” FF fallback. In some ways, it’s just as much fun trying to reach all the
alternate endings as it is trying to find the optimum one and the alternate
endings are very easy to get to, unlike the very well hidden true ending.
Granted, the true path negates the free movement possibilities but exploration
and repeat play is an essential part of the process in this book so it works
well in my opinion. Equally, there is a lot to see and do on all paths so it is
worth just roaming around aimlessly if only to experience all that has gone
into designing the Isles of Dawn. Of note is the way NPCs interact with you as
everyone is out for themselves (logical given that this region is an unstable
feudal land ruled by an oppressive regime) and hardly anyone (bar the Monks)
shows any interest in you at all, especially the bureaucrats. Add to this the
way the atmosphere is laid on thick and you really do feel like you are a little
twerp on a hopeless personal crusade that you cannot realistically hope to
complete... and maybe that’s why it’s so hard to beat this book. Perhaps that’s
the point that PM is making, that the little man will always lose when trying
to take on the big man. Thankfully though, the political side is largely
presented through the feudal social structure rather than through ramblings
which was one of the many things that ruined the previous Isles of Dawn book, Black Vein Prophecy. Adding to the
atmosphere is the very exotic Far Eastern feel of the locations, NPC names,
vocabulary, and the monsters that you can meet. The creatures in particular are
highly imaginative and unique to this book (I particularly like the Cargui,
which is a big silkworm thing) and are a nice antidote to the usual
bog-standard fantasy fare of Orcs and the like, none of which seem to extend
this far across Titan. It’s nice to see a bit of geographical exposition in FF
and the “cut-off” nature of these Isles seems to be a nod to how feudal Japan
used to be viewed by the West. Indeed, Hachiman (from #20 Sword Of The Samurai) gets name-checked frequently in this book
(mostly with negative “baddie” connotations) which also adds to the idea of a
part of Titan that has developed separately from the rest, plus this also adds
to the always-welcome cross-linking between books in the series.

I opened this
by describing this book as a follow-up as distinct from a sequel to Black Vein Prophecy. I say this because
the links lie in the location and the final denouement only, otherwise this is
a wholly different book. In BVP you
were destined for greatness (you just had to realise it), in TCT you come from nothing and are
probably headed for nothing which might be why you can find so many non-win
endings that you are expected to just settle for. The main inter-linking
between the two books happens when you come face-to-face with King Maior ie the
character you play in BVP. OK, so
this is a different slant on the concept and FF sequels almost always do not
involve you re-playing the same character (although occasionally you really are
the same person), but rarely do you literally meet yourself as is the case
here! Unfortunately, whilst it works in the context of TCT’s plot, this does kind of defeat the object of BVP (although, if my advice is worth
taking, I would strongly advise against bothering with the wretched BVP anyway!) especially as there is an
illustration of King Maior who I can categorically say does not look like the
YOU that is me (if that makes sense?) But, it is always nice to see global
coherence plot and setting-wise and I think that is what is intended in this
book, rather than YOU trying to un-do your role in BVP. Plus, TCT is a far
superior book and avoids the lunacy, pretentiousness, and cod politicising that
made BVP so unbearable.

As can be
expected in a book that plays so liberally with the form and format of FF,
paragraph 400 is not the ultimate ending. Instead, it is the key instant death
outcome that results from failing the item check-off part of the final section
where you meet the King. The fact that several sections offer a “turn to 400”
next move can initially create the illusion of success (which may be
intentional) can indicate that this is not where you want to be heading and that
it is simply another red herring. We have discussed several aspects of this
book that make it so very hard to complete (low starting stats, need for high
stats generally, ridiculous Giant Mudworm fight, very tight true path, and, the
most important by far, the secret message hidden in the text) and another
aspect that makes this tough is the shopping list of essential items. Granted,
they can be individually fairly easy to get hold of, but finding all of them in
one playthrough can be a challenge and it does come as a bit of a surprise when
the book suddenly demands that you produce them and the ending is very much a
“Do you have x? If not, die”, “Now do you have y? If not, die” catalogue of
item checks. That said, it does make it all the more satisfying when you manage
to best the “combination of items needed + getting past the rather tough Monks
trial by using your enlightened mind + fathoming out that damn secret message”
equation and win. It also requires you to win (or at least get a long way
through) to appreciate just how intricately and superbly designed this book
really is.

Whilst this
book is highly original in the context of the FF series, the actual plot is
anything but original, given that it is basically lifted from Conan The Barbarian ie child witnesses
parents’ undoing, goes through various trials to build himself up physically
and spiritually, finally gets revenge as an adult. There is enough variation
and interesting incident throughout the game’s plot for you to possibly not
notice this, but the appearance of a human-snake end baddie is a little harder
to overlook as a Conan steal.
Similarly, during the all-important pivotal Monks’ Trial episode, you are
required to face your personal demons and confront an image of the masked
bandit leader who you are ultimately seeking revenge against. The moment where
your face is behind the mask bears more than a passing resemblance to the part
of The Empire Strikes Back where Luke
decapitates Darth Vader only to see his own face behind the mask. All very
philosophical and there is a definite correlation between Luke’s Jedi awakening
and your spiritual enlightenment in this book, but it’s a bit transparent where
the idea came from. Probably less obvious is the inter-textual repeat image of
the bandit leader’s mask itself which is very similar-looking to the horror
mask from the classic Japanese movie Onibaba.

On the
subject of the internal art, there is a dark mysterious look to Terry Oakes’
work here and some of the images are quite imposing and frightening. I like the
way much of the art is from a “looking upwards” perspective which does
emphasize the idea of your being a child. The art is not exceptional, but it
certainly works in the Far Eastern context of this book. As for Alan Craddock’s
colourful and busy cover, this was what really drew me to want to play this
book the first time as there’s just so much going on. Unfortunately, it’s
difficult to work out exactly what it is that is going on as the Sharkmen (for
one) aren’t in the book anywhere and the entire image seems to relate to a
completely different book. Odd then, as a cover picture, but I like it
nonetheless as there is a certain animation to it and it has effective use of
dark as well as bright contrasting colours.

This is a
very unique experience overall that is very satisfying to play (and beat, if
you actually can do so) and offers a lot to keep you interested. The system is
highly original and kudos has to go to Paul Mason for trying to do something
very different with the FF format and for successfully pulling it off slickly
rather than creating a botched mess in the process. There is no doubt that this
book is unbelievably difficult but there is enough here to compel you to keep
searching for the solution. Apparently PM set out to write the hardest FF book
ever and he may just about have achieved his goal as this is certainly amongst
the all-time hardest without a doubt. Opinion is very polarised in FF fandom
about this book – some rate it for its originality and the thrill of the chase,
others hate it for its difficulty-level and the Giant Mudworm cock-up. I’m in
the former faction and would strongly recommend giving this a try. You probably
won’t win, but you’ll still get a lot of enjoyment out of failing!